The field of the present invention is systems for loading railcars.
The rail industry has developed a great deal of experience in the handling of materials on railcars. Particular requirements have been established for stacking materials on flat cars including dunnage, blocking and specific strapping requirements.
With bundled and elongate products such as tubing, wood beams are laid laterally across the car as dunnage to support the bundles. The tubes are in bundles and extend longitudinally of the railcar. Short stakes, blocking and strapping then retain the load in place. FIG. 2 illustrates one such recommended stacking.
In spite of these carefully defined methods for retaining tube bundles, the natural vibration of the car can result in individual tubes slowly working longitudinally outwardly from the bundle. If left unattended, the individual tubes can extend into harms way or come into contact with adjacent tube bundles or bulkheads. This can make the bundles difficult to unload and cause damage to the tubing. Naturally, bulkheads can be placed against the ends of the tubing or the tubing against barriers. However, such tight assemblies create their own problems in terms of loading, unloading and damage from motion of the tubes relative to other tubes, the bulkheads and barriers.